


Fangs and Blood

by Wingzrooke



Category: Naruto
Genre: Child Abuse, Child Rescues Herself, Fem!Naruto is Naruko, Found Family, Gen, Kinda, Naruko has a super-nose!, No beta we die like illiterates, Not Proofread, Starvation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:53:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28785243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wingzrooke/pseuds/Wingzrooke
Summary: There was more ‘leakage’ from the Kyuubi’s seal than anyone realized. There was a reason Gaara craved blood, and in this Universe Naruko craved it too. Only she didn’t have convenient control over sand to kill and absorb the blood for her. What Naruko had, was fangs. They all find this out the hard way when her ‘caretaker’ starves and neglects Naruko. Naturally, the caretaker dies and Konoha’s Jinchūriki goes missing. Thankfully Inu is on the case.Or: Naruko is a little bit more like Gaara than Konoha would like, and Kakashi is going to make sure his Sensei’s Pup survives if it kills him. So are the Yondaime’s former bodyguards. They are all emotionally invested in this sweet, blood-hungry little angel. But what will they do when they find out the child cannot eat enough to survive, even when she’s not being deliberately starved? It turns out there’s a higher cost to being a Jinchūriki than anyone realized.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Uzumaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi's Ninken & Uzumaki Naruto, Inuzuka Kiba & Uzumaki Naruto, Senju Tsunade & Uzumaki Naruto, Shiranui Genma & Uzumaki Naruto, The Inuzuka Clan & Uzumaki Naruto, Yondaime's Guards & Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 4
Kudos: 83





	1. Chapter 1

* * *

* * *

The room was dark, lit only but the traces of light coming in through the dingy window. Even that didn’t provide much light, though, because it was night outside and the buildings on either side of the orphanage were much taller. The window of this room looked out directly at the building next door, only a few feet away. The room’s sole occupant, an infant maybe six months or a year old, lay silently on their back in the crib. The emaciated limbs and hollow cheeks clearly displayed, even in the shadows of the room, that the infant was starving. Yet the child made no noise. She had already learned that crying brought not food or love. For this infant, making noise brought only pain. In fact any attention on her brought pain and suffering. Her blue eyes stared up at the ceiling almost listlessly. Even if she wanted too, the babe didn’t really have the extra energy to spare with crying or moving around. The child’s once baby-fine bright blonde hair had faded to a sort of straw-like color and texture. The clothing she wore was dirty, and the rancid smell of a diaper left _way_ too long and the smell of infection filled the room. Her skin was flaky and ashen, excepting her nose which was red and a little inflamed.

The doorknob twisted, alerting the child to someone’s entrance. Silently she turned her head, gazing at the door, wondering what pain would be inflicted upon her now. The child’s caretaker, the head of the orphanage, sneered down at the babe as the woman entered. The baby, despite being held back in development numerous ways, was ahead of her peers in one way. Her mind, much like her parents, was that of a genius. Even her prodigious mind, however, was being slowly overwhelmed by the raging instincts of her host.

A new smell filled the air, one the baby girl had never smelled before. Idly the child noted some sort of plasticy covering on one of the woman’s fingers. The odd piece of…something…was forgotten though, as the smell overwhelmed the little girl’s senses. If she’d had the vocabulary, she might have said it smelled coppery and sort of like rust. Lacking the vocabulary, mostly her brain categorized the smell as delicious.

The babe, who’d been slowly starving over the last month, felt herself overcome by a force beyond her control. As the woman came closer to the crib, the babe managed to shakily pull herself up to lean against the bars of her crib. The woman, not sensing the danger, closed the door behind herself and entered more fully into the room. When the woman was halfway between the door and the crib, a flood of raging red energy helped the child to spring from the crib onto the woman like a tiny rocket.

The baby hit the woman in the shoulder, the same tantalizing smell just below the surface of the caretaker’s neck. The impact knocked the woman to the ground, but the little girl was undeterred. Without hesitation, the little girl bit into the neck with two tiny fangs and began to suck the blood out of the woman. The red energy filling the girl surged out through the fangs and into the woman, frying the woman’s nerves and preventing the woman from making sound or moving at all. The entire process since the little girl’s launching happening between one eyeblink and the next.

The woman, now a prisoner in her own body, was helpless to do anything but stare with horrified and terrified eyes at the ceiling above her while her blood was quickly siphoned out of her. In a matter of minutes, the woman was dead by exsanguination. As the blood made its way to the baby’s stomach, the red haze receded. The child, who had never been taught right or wrong and always treated like a different species, saw nothing wrong in what she’d done. Instead she felt only relief. Relief at finally, _finally_ having something in her stomach once more. Far more food than she’d had in weeks.

Her genius mind began clicking away, and the little girl wondered what she’d do now. Prior to this moment, the woman was the one who brought what little care and sustenance the child received. The ever-present longing for someone to hold her, to feed her and take care of her, filled the child. She wasn’t hungry again just yet, but she knew from long experience that she would soon be starving again.

A dim memory came back to her, as she thought about someone holding her. A long time ago, or rather what would be a long time for a baby, a man had visited. He had inspected her room and picked her up. Unlike the woman, the man had held her gently, cradling the tiny baby. He hadn’t brought food, but he had been kind. That was more than the child had ever received in her life.

While she thought, the ‘food’ had been absorbing into her body. Slowly she began to regain energy, and she even healed a little bit. Her tiny, sensitive little nose began to become less red and the swelling decreased until her nose looked much like a normal baby nose. She sniffed the air, seeking the scent of that man from long ago. Despite the cloying miasma, the girl was easily able to differentiate between the scent of offal, infection, herself, the woman, the strange guards that checked on her regularly, and …there it was! Though very faint, she found the scent of the man.

Silently the baby followed the scent, crawling over to the window. Red energy filled her as the baby crawled right up the wall and onto the window’s large sill. The sill was made large on purpose, so that it would be easier for her ninja guard to stand or crouch there if necessary. When she got to the window, she pushed her fingers up against the bottom of the pane. Every day her guards checked on her three times. Once for the morning shift, once when the afternoon shift took over, and once when the night shift took over. Each time the guard would raise the window and lean in to peer at her. Then, noting she was still there, they would retreat (closing the window behind themself).

Her little claw-like nails caught under the window, and that same surging red energy filled the child. The window shot upwards much faster than the girl expected. She leaned back slightly in surprise, but the window stayed open. After a moment the girl mentally shook off the surprise and began to crawl outside and down the side of the orphanage.

If her guards were doing their proper job, the girl likely wouldn’t have even made it outside the window, let alone down the side of the building. Of course, if they’d been doing their job the baby wouldn’t be starving in the first place. Her guards, however, treated her much like the caretaker. They did less than the minimum, just making sure there were no enemy nin. So it was hardly surprising that the baby made it to the ground and out into the village with no one the wiser. Even the red energy, used in miniscule amounts, did not bring attention to her.

The little girl’s stomach was beginning to rumble once more, already hungry after ten minutes. But the girl had a goal now, something she was focused on and determined to do. Somehow, with only the red energy and a faded memory to guide her, the baby crawled through the village, past the quiet night market and across the breadth of the village. By the time she stopped outside an apartment building (not that she knew what it was), the girl was beyond flagging. Still, the scent went up the side of this building and the red energy urged her restlessly on.

Struggling mightily, but still silently, the little girl managed to make her way to a fourth floor window and shove it open. Exhausted, she tumbled through the opening and into several traps. Unfortunately these weren’t academy student traps, which were most likely to be nonlethal. Luckily for the child, very few of the traps were meant to kill, and most of those were set to go off on someone trying to exit the apartment. Still, the baby was caught in several traps, many of which poisoned her or drew copious amounts of blood.

Every time she was injured (or poisoned), the red energy filled her and took the hurt away. There was just enough blood left in her system for the beast within to heal her. Silently the girl continued tracking the scent to where it was strongest. She crawled down the hallway and into a bedroom (not that she knew what this room was called either). Despair overcame the baby then. The man was not here.

Close to the door was the strongest and most recent source of his scent. A small basket filled with dirty clothes. She crawled into the basket and then burrowed her way underneath some of the laundry until she came across a bundle of cloth soaked in blood and sweat. The baby grabbed onto the shirt and cuddled it to her chest, curling around it. Then, the remainder of her energy fled and the baby fell asleep.

It would be many hours, despite her slow trek through the village, before anyone even realized she was missing.

* * *

ANBU agent Rat felt a bit of worry nibble at the edges of his thoughts as he approached the orphanage by rooftop for his morning shift. The first and most obvious thing he noticed was that the Demon Brat’s window was open. He wasn’t completely worried, because it was possible that either one of the other ANBU had simply forgotten to close the window. Or perhaps the Orphanage Matron had decided to air out the room. It certainly could use a good couple days of airing, in Rat’s opinion. With these thoughts circling through his mind, Rat poked his head inside the child’s room.

All other thoughts ceased, making way for vicious internal cursing, as he saw the child missing and the Matron lying still on the floor. Rat took a quick moment to check the woman’s pulse (there was none) before he shunshined up to the roof. Angrily he demanded an explanation from the ANBU on the night shift. ANBU Lizard reported no unusual people or disturbances, so Rat left Lizard watching the orphanage and began his marathon sprint across the village to the Hokage’s office. This day probably couldn’t get worse, he thought.

Then he entered the Hokage’s office (via the window, naturally), and when he straightened up, he found ANBU Inu already present. Rat broke out into a panicked sweat as Inu began to radiate killing intent. Inu may not have been allowed on the Demon Brat’s guard rotation, but everyone knew Inu knew all of the brat’s Guards and their shifts. Carefully not reacting (other than sweating and feeling nauseous), Rat bowed to the Hokage.

“Report Rat.” The Hokage ordered gravely.

“Hokage-sama, I reached my post this morning and noticed the window was open. Upon further inspection, I found the caretaker dead and the child missing.” Rat quickly rattled off, wincing as Inu’s killing intent tripled. The Hokage frowned, and the tiniest amount of the old man’s own killing intent started to creep around the room.

“I immediately rendezvoused with Lizard, who reported no suspicious activity of any kind took place during their shift. There were no other leads.” Rat added before the Hokage could ask.

Sarutobi Hiruzen leaned forward, elbows on his desk and fingers steepled in front of him. His hat shadowed his eyes as the old man regarded his two agents.

“Rat, you will return to your post. Lizard is to stay until dismissed. If the child should return or anything pertinent happen, Lizard will bring the message directly to me.” The Hokage ordered.

“Hai, Hokage-sama.” Rat replied, bowing quickly and then leaving as fast as his legs could carry him.

* * *

“Hokage-sama~…” Inu all but sang darkly. Sarutobi raised one hand.

“Peace, Inu. Of course you will lead the team to track down and return Minato’s child. Take Porcupine’s squad with you. You are authorized to use all necessary force and cross any borders. Bring our girl home, Kakashi.” Sarutobi ordered.

Inu bowed silently and vanished. It didn’t escape the famed genius’ attention that all members of the team assigned to this mission were close friends of the Yondaime, including himself. Porcupine’s squad was a team made up of the last Hokage’s former Guards and good friends. He didn’t need to worry about having a team member like little Naruko’s guards. Everyone would be working in the best interests of the child as well as Konoha.

* * *

Kakashi “Inu” Hatake, wasted no time summoning the rest of his temporary team and heading to the girl’s room. Inside, Kakashi wrinkled his nose. Even the mask, and despite the open window helping the room to air out a bit, the room was so rank he couldn’t smell anything. Nor was he willing to remove the mask. Not that it really mattered, he’d planned to have one of his ninken do the tracking anyways. The rest of his temporary team waited just outside, ready to follow Inu’s lead. Inu’s hands flew through the hand seals before slamming on the ground silently.

The smoke from the summoning cleared quickly to reveal Pakkun. The pug immediately snorted.

“Phew, this place stinks!” Pakkun announced. Kakashi gave the dog a deadpan look, as if to say ‘you think?’

“Someone’s kidnapped the Pup. We need to track them down.” Inu growled. Hearing those words, Pakkun transformed to all-business attitude. The dog sniffed around.

“I don’t smell intruders. There are several scents I recognize from ANBU, as well as the dead lady on the floor over there, and the Pup’s scent. There’s even yours and mine from that time you brought me to memorize her scent. Pup’s scent isn’t healthy anymore either, Boss.” Pakkun noted grimly. “Pup’s scent goes to the window.” Pakkun narrated as he followed the scent. The two of them tracked the scent halfway through the village, with the rest of the team following further behind so as not to get in the way. Pakkun halted and turned to his summoner.

“Boss, I think we’ve got a problem. There’s only two scent trails that’ve been heading in this direction the whole time. The Pup’s, and a really old scent trail of yours. In fact, the Pup’s trail directly follows yours. I could be wrong, but I think the Pup might’ve been tracking your old scent trail.” Pakkun announced quietly, so that only his summoner could hear. Behind his mask, Kakashi frowned.

“At less than a year old?” He questioned, but nevertheless he signaled the rest of the team that the mission had gone from ‘extreme, with a heavy chance of enemy nin’ to ‘general retrieval, minimal threat’. Confused, the others nonetheless relax a little. Porcupine, known as Genma Shiranui when he wasn’t wearing the mask, left the other group and joined Inu and Pakkun.

“What did you find?” Porcupine/Genma asked in a calm tone. Inu wasn’t fooled, Porcupine was just as worried about the girl as Inu himself.

“It looks like the kid might be following one of my old scent trails. It’s possible someone wearing scent suppressors took her, but Pakkun can track even people wearing suppressors. I don’t know what happened yet, but it warranted lowering the threat level.” Inu explained briefly. Without waiting for a reply, Inu and Pakkun began following the trail once more, Porcupine keeping pace with them.

Sure enough, just like Pakkun suggested, the girl’s trail led them right to Inu’s apartment building. Porcupine and Inu exchanged looks, and then Inu looked up to see his window open. With a curse (remembering what traps he’d left and how easily a baby could be irreparably injured or die), Kakashi scooped up Pakkun and jumped up to his window. On the other side of his window was a mess of deployed and wreaked traps.

Inu jumped through and quickly disabled the few that hadn’t already gone off, with Porcupine right behind him. The other members of the team stayed outside. Pakkun, on the floor once more, ignored his summoner working and continued tracking through the apartment. He followed the trail through the kitchen, across the living room and down the hallway to Kakashi’s bedroom. Just inside the room, the scent trail went up and over the lip of the laundry basket. Pakkun stood up on his hind legs, balancing with his front paws on the lip of the short basket. He leaned forward slightly and prodded under the first layer of clothes. When his nose encountered a foot, he backed up and sat down. Then he barked back towards his summoner.

“Boss! Hey, Boss! Found the pup!” Pakkun barked. Instantly Inu left off what he’d been doing and ran into the room, Porcupine just a step behind him. The two men paused just behind the pug. Helpfully Pakkun batted the lip of the laundry basket with a paw.

“In there, Boss.” He added for the perplexed men. Porcupine moved to the side slightly and lifted off the top layers of clothes. The sight of the state of neglect the child is in angers both men, but her being in the apartment doesn’t completely surprise them thanks to Pakkun’s earlier warning. For a moment they are silent, just taking in the sight of her.

“How would she know to go to your apartment, Hatake? Are we really suggesting a less than year old girl tracked a two-month old scent across the village? And even if she did, what happened to the Matron?” Genma demands gruffly. Internally Kakashi “Inu” Hatake, winces. Outside his own mind, he shrugs.

“I’m not sure, exactly. I stopped by the orphanage just once. To check and make sure the Orphanage was taking care of her properly and make sure Pakkun had her scent memorized. Just in case. I …. _might_ have picked the brat up on impulse. That’s it, though. Afterwards I put her back, dismissed Pakkun, and returned home. She must have followed my scent trail back here. There’s no other way she would know. I’m not sure what happened to the Matron, but whatever it was…she obviously deserved it.” Kakashi admitted, ending his words in a low growl.

“Kid looks like she hasn’t had a good meal in a long time. Think they were starving her?” Genma agrees, looking at the stick-thin, anorexic-looking limbs and hollow cheeks. She also looks and smells like she hasn’t been cleaned up or had her diaper changed in a while. They don’t talk about that, though, because it makes both their blood boil to see the Yondaime’s child so ill-treated.

“I’ll get the Pup cleaned up. The priority now is to get her taken care of. I’m not sure if she’d make it to the hospital. See if you can whip up something baby-appropriate from my kitchen meanwhile.” Inu ordered and Porcupine vanished almost before Inu finished speaking. Inu picked the tiny girl up by the back of her shirt.

The movement woke the child, but to both Inu and Pakkun’s relief she made no noise. Instead she blinked large, blue, sleepy eyes at them. Then she yawned, obviously still tired, and showing off her sharp teeth. The girl had all four of her main front teeth, which were sharp much like a Hatake or Inuzuka’s teeth would be. Sharper than average but not necessarily obvious unless you’re looking for it. Her four canine teeth, on the other hand, were more like miniature fangs.

A small part of Inu’s mind cooed over the Pup, and wondered if it was supposed to be a threat display. Not that he felt threatened. Mostly he felt a little nostalgic. Then she seemed to register his scent, little nose twitching slightly, and her eyes lit up, looking more lively and vibrant. Still she didn’t make a sound, and Inu scowled behind his mask. Who taught her to be so quiet? It wasn’t natural for pups, human or otherwise.

Inu carried the girl to the bathroom, holding her out away from his body due to the stench. The girl hung there happily enough, still silent. When they got to the bathroom, Inu quickly stripped the clothing off the girl and scowled at the sight of the many rashes and infections lining the girl’s body. True, they weren’t as bad as her smell indicated they should be, but there were still many different patches of rash and infection. Most notably around the poor baby’s nether regions.

He tossed the clothes and diaper into the trashcan and gently sat the baby in the tub. He helped her sit upright, one hand behind her back. The other hand turned the dial for the water. Once the water was at a gently warm temperature, Inu picked up the hand-held shower wand and switched the water from the tub to the shower. Gently he washed the girl down, just letting the soft spray rinse off whatever it could. Next he scooted the girl back until she leaned up against the sloped back of the tub. Then he set the shower wand aside and used his scentless body wash (guaranteed to remove blood and other nastiness left over from covert missions!) to lather her up.

“Close your eyes.” Inu instructed, and the girl followed his directions. He quickly shampooed her hair. The girl made a face and silently cried a little bit when some of the shampoo got into her mouth, and Inu quickly retrieved the shower wand and rinsed her down. Starting at the top of her head, he was careful to thoroughly wash everything off. He leaned her forward gently so he could get her back and picked her up when it was time to wash her little bottom.

When that was done, he conditioned her hair and then used his special medical-grade antibacterial wash for injuries everywhere she had a rash or infection. Then that, too was washed away. Inu pulled down a towel and gently patted her dry. A gentle nudging against Inu’s thigh drew his attention to Pakkun, who had Inu’s med kit in his mouth and was using it to prod Inu’s thigh. Seeing that he had Inu’s attention, the pug set the med kit down next to the pup.

Inu set the girl down, wrapped up in the towel, while he opened up the kit and found the items he needed. A quick cream to prevent itching was spread over the rashes, as well as an extra strong anti-fungal cream. On the areas with infection he spread a prescription strength antibiotic cream. From the very bottom of the kit he withdrew a syringe full of immune booster and chakra, and another syringe full of vitamins and healing chakra under statis. Quickly he snapped off the caps and injected both into a clear patch of skin on her bottom. Still the baby didn’t cry, which was growing more concerning the longer it went on. Once he’d finished up this bit, he packed up the kit and tucked it back under the sink.

When Inu turned around again, he found Pakkun waiting next to the baby with one of Kakashi’s old soft under-armor shirts from his Genin days. Inu didn’t even know he still had any of those. Or that they were still in his apartment. The shirt would still drowned the girl, but the fit wouldn’t be as bad as an adult’s shirt. Now that the girl was dressed, Inu picked her up and carefully held her against his chest.

It was hard to know where to hold her without causing pain, especially since she was silent all the time. Inu just did the best he could. Despite his private hypothesis on what, exactly, had killed the Matron of the Orphanage, Kakashi cradled the Pup close to his chest and throat area. The little girl snuggled her nose up against the hollow of his throat, taking in his scent with deep breaths. Silently she rubbed her head against the area, mixing their scents. Despite himself, his heart melted a little more. Silently he trekked back to the kitchen, Pakkun at his heels, towards the sounds of pots clanking and cupboards opening and shutting.

On the counter sat an assortment of cut up fruits and tiny pieces of meat and cheese. On the stove bubbled a pot of some sort of soup, possibly chicken or beef broth. Inu helpfully cleared his throat to let Porcupine know they were in the kitchen. Immediately the man turned, picked up some of the fruit pieces, and held a piece out to the baby. When the food, in this case a piece of mangosteen. The benefits of mangosteen ran through Inu’s mind as soon as he saw it, and Inu instantly approved of the choice.

Mangosteen is known, among other things, as being: an energy booster, antibiotic, helps against fungal infections, and many other illnesses. All things the Pup needed. Porcupine pressed the fruit against her mouth, and the girl took the fruit, nipping Porcupine’s fingers with her tiny fangs as she did so. Porcupine cursed in surprise and a tiny bit of pain and Inu had an instant to see a drop of blood before the Pup’s tongue swiped over the injury. Then the baby leaned back as Porcupine reached to grab more fruit, carefully not reacting to the lick.

Porcupine was more careful as he fed other bits of fruit to the Pup, among them banana, pineapple, and dragon fruit. The child ate quite a bit of it before she turned her face away from the food and into Inu’s chest. The two men were about to discuss what to do when they noticed something strange.

The girl’s cheeks began to fill out a little, and her limbs gained some muscle and fat as well. The general effect was she ended up looking more like a regular baby and less like a victim of starvation. They watched the changes with awe, and ten minutes later heard a rumbling coming from her stomach. Sure enough the girl turned her head away from Inu’s chest to look cautiously, but hopefully, at Porcupine.

Obligingly, Porcupine fed the girl some of whatever the soup was, using a small cup to help her drink it. The girl drank until she was full. Both men waited, watching her, to see her regain even more health. Once again, like clockwork, ten minutes passed and her stomach growled loudly. This pattern repeated until all the rashes and infections were gone and the child looked normal once more. It didn’t stop once she was healed, though. Oh, her body stopped filling out after a time and there was nothing left to heal (though her hair did grow out until it reached her bottom, the hair from the crown of her head to her mid-back being new and healthy), but still her stomach roared ten minutes or so after she ate.

On a hunch, they waited an hour to see if her condition would deteriorate. In the meantime Porcupine sent one of his clones out to order the other members of the team to wait inconspicuously nearby. She didn’t deteriorate, though the girl fell asleep and wouldn’t wake for more than a few minutes.

Porcupine hesitated for a moment, and then he deliberately cut his hand over a cup of soup. The baby's eyes cracked open at the smell of blood, and she drank down the doctored soup without issue. This time it took a full fifteen minutes, but still her stomach was back to growling after that.

“We’ve got to get her to Tsunade.” Inu decided grimly. “There’s obviously something wrong.” He added with a bit of growl.

“The council will never allow it. They’ll want her ‘put down’ and a new Jinchūriki chosen.” Porcupine pointed out just as grimly.

“Then we won’t ask. Better to ask forgiveness than permission, as they saw. We’ll pretend we’re still tracking her kidnappers and smuggle the Pup out.” Inu ordered, his flashing eye daring Porcupine to disagree.

“Agreed.” Porcupine said instead. _We both care for the child._ Porcupine’s eyes sent back. With a sharp nod, Inu opened his left eye and cast the strongest genjutsu his sharingan was capable of. The child vanished from sight, and it looked like Inu’s arm was at his side.

“Well, lead on, Pakkun. Over the wall.” Inu commanded.

“You got it, Boss.” Pakkun agreed easily. When the quartet joined the rest of the team, Porcupine explained the situation in a near-silent whisper. The rest of the team, who were also emotionally invested in the child’s wellbeing, all agreed to leave the village in search of Tsunade. For most of them it was the first time they’d gone off-book in this way. They, every single one of them, felt it was worth it. The group retraced their steps to partway through the market, and then pretended to follow a scent trail over the village walls and out of the village. No one left behind in the village any the wiser to their scheme.

* * *

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

* * *

It takes longer than they expected to track down Tsunade. Most of that, though, is because they have to keep stopping to stock up on food to feed the baby. They’ve taken to adding blood to all her food, because they needed the extra time between feedings and it seemed to be better for her. They tried adding more blood to the food, which did help extend the time a little, but the baby still need to eat about every half hour or so.

Despite rotating how much blood they were giving, it’d been twenty four hours and they’d all taken a blood-replenishing pill or two. Hopefully they found Tsunade soon, or they’d have to find other ways to provide her with blood. The human body really couldn’t take more than eight blood pills in a two to three day period, and it was advised not to take more of the pills for at least three or four days afterwards.

Thankfully it only took them another day to track Tsunade down. Predictably, they found her in a bar. She wasn’t in a gambling town, surprisingly. Less surprisingly, she was in a bar in a town about halfway between two large gambling towns. Kakashi silently crossed the room and slid into the seat next to Tsunade. Four of their team made quick work of making sure there were no especially dangerous people in or around the bar. Genma sat down, in henge, at a nearby table in case Kakashi needed backup.

For once Kakashi was even _dressed_ like a regular nin. Wearing their ANBU clothing and masks would have drawn way too much attention to them all. So Kakashi was out of uniform and the others were in henge. Tsunade tossed back the rest of her mug before she met Kakashi’s eyes defiantly.

“Hatake.” She growled. Kakashi just raised an eyebrow. “Tell the old man I’m not going back. No matter what.” She added to Kakashi’s silence.

“Mah, I’ll be sure to pass on your message. Thankfully I’m not here to convince you to return to Konoha. I’m here for a consult.” Kakashi replied dryly.

“I don’t do blood.” Tsunade warned.

“That’s probably for the best, seeing as we don’t really have more to give.” Kakashi replied cheerfully. “Have a room we could meet privately in?” He added, verbally prodding her to get moving. Tsunade nodded sharply.

“My assistant will be there, too.” Tsunade warned.

“Mah, more the merrier, so long as they’re trustworthy.” Kakashi agreed without trouble. Finally the woman, grumbling, got up from the table and meandered towards the stairs in the front room. Kakashi caught the unhappy barkeep’s eyes and left a large amount of coins on the table. It aught to more than cover what Tsunade drank. He didn’t want interruptions or trouble while Tsunade was helping the Pup. Troublesome staff taken care of, Kakashi followed Tsunade’s path up to the woman’s room. Genma followed Kakashi, and two of the others on their team remained in the tavern below to keep an eye on things. And make sure no one else followed.

Once at the top of the stairs, Kakashi saw Tsunade had left her door open. He entered, but left the door open. Tsunade raised an eyebrow at Kakashi, but the eyebrow lowered when Genma (sans henge and Mask but not ANBU outfit) entered and closed the door behind himself. Kakashi left Genma to guard the door and then walked briskly over to the window. He pulled the shade down and then cast a genjutsu on the window just to be sure no one would be able to look in. Precautions in place, Kakashi dropped the henge over his arm and the pup. Tsunade startled at the reveal, staring flatly at the baby.

“Isn’t that…?” She started to ask. Ruthlessly Kakashi cut her off.

“This is my little Naru-chan, yes.” He replied, both sets of eyes glinting threateningly at her. Tsunade snorted.

“Put that away, I’m not going to hurt the brat. Just surprised the old man let you take her out of the village.”

“Someone had to.” Kakashi replied flatly.

“So, what’s wrong with the kid? I thought old fox-face was supposed to keep her healthy?” Tsunade sighed.

“I’d prefer you do a scan first and see if you can figure it out. We only know what some of the symptoms are, not the cause.” He replied stiffly. Tsunade shrugged.

“Alright then.” Tsunade remarked, giving Kakashi a bit of a strange look. The woman’s hand lit up in green light, and little Naruko silently watched as Tsunade placed a hand on her. The baby’s eyes were half-lidded, since it’d been over thirty minutes since she last ate. Her energy was at its ebb.

“Well, she’s starving. Literally. No one ever feed this kid?” Tsunade announced a few moments later.

“That’s just it. She was being starved before we got her three days ago, but we’ve been feeding her at least every thirty minutes for the last three days. Doesn’t seem to matter. Like clockwork, kid is starving again in ten minutes unless we add blood to her food. Then we can extend the time up to anywhere from fifteen minutes to thirty between feedings.” Genma drawled from where he stood near the door. Tsunade and her assistant both looked intrigued.

“It’s about time for her to eat again. We thought you might appreciate having the before and after readings.” Kakashi added, withdrawing a sippy cup full of soup from a pouch which formerly held his shuriken but since three days ago become a food-carrying pouch. “This one doesn’t have blood in it, so if you want another reading in ten minutes to see the difference between blooded and non-blood food we can do that.” He added.

“Wait, let Shizune take a scan first so we can both work on this.” Tsunade ordered. Semi-patiently Kakashi allowed the young woman to approach and run a quick chakra-scan on the child. If his lips peeled back from his teeth behind his mask at the potential threat of a person he didn’t know, well…that was no ones business but his own. Once the woman was done, Kakashi presented the sippy-cup to the pup. Familiar with the cup, from their long days and nights on the road, the child gripped the cup and eagerly drank it down.

Once she’d finished, the child handed the cup back to Kakashi. Only moments later, she was rubbing her eyes and then leaning more heavily (although the difference was negligible to Kakashi), and minutes after that the pup was asleep. Meanwhile Tsunade and Shizune both touched the pup with green-glowing hands. Kakashi counted off the minutes in his head, and they kept monitoring the child for the next fifteen minutes.

Kakashi itched to feed the child again, especially when she woke up ten minutes in to her stomach rumbling and looked expectantly to him. Surprisingly she ignored the strange woman touching her shoulders.

“Soon, pup.” Kakashi promised. The little girl’s lips turned down slightly at the corner, and she wilted a little bit, but didn’t protest or make a sound. He was still worried about that, too. But Kakashi rather suspected her silence had more to do with her former treatment than any physiological problem.

“Alright, now the – what did you call it? – blooded food?” Tsunade ordered. Quickly Kakashi held out a hand to Genma, who brought over a new sippy cup and exchanged it for the old one. They’d added the blood ahead of time, in deference to Tsunade’s infamous blood phobia. The child drank down this soup just as quickly, and watched silently as Tsunade and Shizune continued observing via their medical chakra. Shortly after the girl’s stomach rumbled once more (thirty minutes later), both woman stopped monitoring the pup.

“Fascinating. To be honest, I think this might be related to her status as the container. Are you aware of how food is processed in the body?” Tsunade asked, and both men had to shake their head negatively.

“When we eat food, the stomach and intestines absorb the nutrients into the bloodstream. It’s the blood’s job to deliver the nutrients to the rest of the body. So when you add blood to the food, you are actually adding a lot more nutrients compared to the same amount of volume in regular food. Sort of like how birds half pre-digest their food before feeding it to their chicks. The problem is that her body uses up the nutrients too quickly for it to do her much good. Most of that energy is used up keeping the connection between the seal, the Kyūbi, and her body.” Tsunade explained, then paused to make sure they were following. At their nods, she continued.

“In other words, it isn’t something wrong with the child. Every Jinchūriki probably suffers from the same problem. She’ll need something like a shake, pill, or sauce with enough nutrients in it to help her survive. Otherwise she could eat all day and still not have enough to live.” The words sent a chill through Kakashi, and he _might_ have held the child a little tighter in worry. Might have. But no one could prove anything.

“Can you make such a thing?” Genma asked seriously. Tsunade shrugged.

“If I had my old lab again, sure. Here on the road? Not so much. But Konoha’s Research and Development department shouldn’t have any trouble creating something. I’ve already done the hard part. It’ll just be coming up with a formula and tinkering with the recipe.” Tsunade shrugged.

“The council will never allow it. They’ll say it’s a flaw in her body and pick out a new host.” Genma growled. Kakashi nodded tersely. Tsunade frowned.

“I just told you, it’s not her body that’s the problem.” Tsunade snapped.

“I know, but they won’t see it that way. Not without your direct testimony.” Genma sighed, rubbing his face ruefully.

“I’m still not going back.” Tsunade protested.

“She’s your only remaining family, Tsunade.” Kakashi growled, the rumbling vibration of an _actual_ growl echoing up through his chest.

“What if we got you the equipment you need and brought it here? Would you help us then? Can make a simple recipe that Hatake and I, or any caretaker, could make? Will you?” Genma redirected, and Kakashi stopped growling for a moment.

“Fine. But I’m not going to stick around waiting for you to bring the stuff.” Tsunade warned. Then she rattled off a list of things she would need for her experiments. Thankfully none of it sounded to hard to get their hands on. Genma took notes. Kakashi fed Naruko again.

“We’ll have them for you by tonight.” Genma promised. A silent exchange of looks, and Genma departed. While Genma handed out equipment retrieval assignments to the rest of the team, Kakashi thrust the pup into Tsunade’s unexpecting arms. The woman fumbled to secure the child. For her part, the pup didn’t bother to help the woman at all. When Tsunade finally had the girl secure on her hip, she glared at Kakashi.

“What was that for?! You don’t just _throw_ _babies at people!_ ” Tsunade shouted at him. The pup whined softly, tiny hands coming up to cover her ears. Tsunade absently patted the child atop the head.

“You should get to know her, being cousins and all.” Kakashi drawled. And no his arms, which had carried the girl for three days straight, _did not_ feel achingly empty. Thank you very much. Tsunade levelled a flat look at the man. The pup though, looked worried and whined for Kakashi, reaching out towards him and leaning so far towards him she was in danger of falling out of Tsunade’s grip.

“None of that, pup. I’m not going anywhere.” He scolded soothingly. Which…was a bit of a weird combination, but he made it work. The girl pouted but let Tsunade wrangle her upright once more while Kakashi rumbled soothingly at her.

“I heard the old man gave her a civilian caretaker. She seems awfully attached to you, though. Who are you, to her?” Tsunade questioned, a sharp smile and look in her eyes. Which…was fair enough. Everyone knew that all of the Yondaime’s friends and allies had been forbidden from interacting with the child. Supposedly for the child’s own protection. As though anyone bought that excuse. Kaskashi had no answer for her, though.

“Inu is pack.” The little girl declared, glaring up at Tsunade. Kakashi blinked. That was…surprisingly coherent for a young child, especially one as neglected as little Naruko had been. Tsunade chuckled at the girl’s attitude.

“Take after your mother, I see. A little genius.” Tsunade…actually _cooed_ at the girl.

“Don’t you mean her father?” Kakashi sighed, but Tsunade shook her head.

“No. Everyone knows the Yondaime was a smart cookie, don’t get me wrong. But Kushina hit all of the milestones ridiculously early, even for a genius. The Uzumaki would never have sent Kushina to be the next container if she hadn’t been able to understand what was being asked of her. Regardless of whether Konoha wanted a younger host or not.” Tsunade explained. The child tilted her head in question, which Tsunade seemed to understand.

“Yes, Kushina was your mother. A braver, bolder, smarter Kunoichi you’ll never find. They called her the Red Hot-blooded Habanero, you know. Her prodigious bare-handed fighting and temper earned her that nickname. Like all Uzumaki, she was a natural genius with seals as well. She had the usual red hair of the Uzumaki clan, and she carried the Kyūbi inside her just like you do.” Tsunade told the child. Little Naruko listened with wide eyes, though she frowned down at a fistful of her own hair when Tsunade talked of Kushina’s red hair.

“You get your blond hair from your father.” Kakashi interjected, wanting to tell the pup at least a little bit about his former sensei, even if he couldn’t tell her _who_ the man was. It was all well and good for Tsunade to break the rule against talking about Naruko’s parents (if the woman even knew about the new law), but Kakashi didn’t have the leeway the woman did. Tsunade snorted.

“You get a lot of your looks from your father. Minato Namikaze was a blond haired, pretty dork. Kushina loved to remind him of that all the time. You get your cheekbones, large chakra capacity, and the ability to form chakra chains from the Uzumaki side, though. I bet you’ll be a sealing prodigy just like your mum, too.” Tsunade informed the child. Now that the child had already been told about her parents, Kakashi felt relieved. He couldn’t be blamed for telling, and if asked he could honestly say it wasn’t him or any active Konoha ninja that told her.

The rest of the wait, besides when they were feeding the child or eating themselves, was spent telling the pup about her parents and the Uzumaki clan. By the time the other members of Kakashi’s squad dropped off the last of the requested equipment (a microscope and some slides), Kakashi had talked more than in the last two years combined. Tsunade was busy experimenting with food and cooking Shizune added any blood when required, and Tsunade would stay out of the room during that time.

Now that it was just Kakashi sitting with Naruko on one of the beds, the pup looked up at him with large sad eyes. Kakashi looked back down at her, wondering what the child wanted. Perhaps she was finally bored? The child had been, as far as Kakashi could tell, unnaturally well-behaved the whole time she’d been with him.

“Inu not my daddy?” She asked quietly, almost shyly. Kakashi’s heart stuttered, and the background noise paused as the two nosy women listened in curiously.

“Not by blood. But I’m still the only Alpha in the pack.” He answered at length. The girl nodded as though this made perfect sense to her.

“Daddy by pack.” She declared, and Kakashi didn’t have the heart to deny her.

“Sure pup. If that’s what you want.” He agreed hoarsely. What would sensei think about this? Of Kakashi taking, not the role of big brother like Minato-sensei had expected. Of Kakashi taking Minato’s daughter in and raising her instead of the girl’s godfather. But she’d grown on him, and he’d always cared (even when he pretended not to). At first just because the child was Minato-sensei’s daughter, but he’d bonded with the child now. It was already too late to say goodbye, for Kakashi. The noise in the background resumed, but Kakashi ignored them. Instead he fed Naruko again and told her one of his clan’s bedtime stories as the child fell asleep.

* * *

It took Tsunade a further two days to create something to help with the nutrients problem. In the end, Tsunade ended up creating a shake out of various ingredients. Some of the ingredients included blood, chakra, and raw meat. There were also veggies or fruits in the mix. Tsunade wrote down a general recipe for Kakashi, as well as ways to mix up the shakes so they didn’t all taste exactly the same.

“Have her eat large regular meals five times a day, and eat the shakes in between whenever she’s hungry. I whipped up a bunch of shakes ahead of time. Here, brat.” Tsunade directed, handing the recipe over to Kakashi and turning to Naruko. Obediently Naruko looked up at the woman. Tsunade smiled. “Give me your wrist, brat.” Tsunade directed. By this point Naruko trusted Tsunade enough to do what the woman asked, without looking to Kakashi first. Naruko held up her tiny arm, and Tsunade fastened a little bracelet around her wrist.

“Now the other one.” And the process was repeated on the other wrist.

“Each of the small circles with symbols on it is a seal. Each one of these seals contains a single shake for you. When you are hungry and it’s not a regular meal-time, you can eat one of these shakes.” Tsunade directed. Then she taught the little girl how to unseal a single seal (looking away during the part that required blood). Then she taught the pup how to seal something into the individual seals. Finally she presented the pup with a new shake. By this point Naruko was well used to eating the various trial shakes, so she slurped it down with no problem.

“You should always eat as big of a meal as you can during meal times.” Tsunade instructed, and little Naruko nodded seriously. “Let me know if the shakes ever stop working or aren’t enough at some point.” Tsunade ordered Kakashi, who nodded diligently. Then Tsunade sealed all the new equipment into a sealing scroll and left.

“What now, Taicho?” Genma requested.

“Now, we return to Konoha, and I convince Hokage-sama to let me keep my pup.” Kakashi replied firmly, though Genma had known Kakashi long enough that the other man could probably see the trepidation in Kakashi’s eyes. Convincing the Hokage to let a fifteen year old adopt a six month old baby would not be easy. Genma hummed thoughtfully.

“Might be easier with allies.” Genma noted casually.

“As touching as your vote of confidence is, I don’t think it will help much with Hokage-sama.” Kakashi replied dryly.

“Of course you have my alliance, should you need it, but I was thinking more about Clans.” Genma replied calmly, and Kakashi could _hear_ the capital “C” Genma put into the word ‘clans’. Kakashi sighed.

“The Hatake Clan hasn’t been active since my father was alive. It’s been over ten years. Even then we didn’t have many allies. At least, none that cared to help my old man out.” Kakashi informed his friend bitterly.

“Maybe not. But Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato had lots of allies. Both personally and because of their positions.” Genma gently pointed out. “They want her to have a good home just as much as we do. Of course, you’ll have to drop out of ANBU to take care of her. Probably even take a full-time in-village assignment. Babies need a lot of care, and Hokage-sama won’t agree to let you take her on missions with you.” The man added just as gently. Kakashi kind of wanted to hit the man.

“I know.” Kakashi agreed, hunched in on himself a little. Naruko, perceptive little thing that she is, held her arms out to Kakashi. Obligingly Kakashi moved over to the bed and picked the girl up, cuddling her to his chest. The girl gently rubbed her head under his chin, scent marking him in an effort to comfort her pack-father. Kakashi had to put the pup down long enough to crawl back into his ANBU uniform, then he picked her up once more and the little group set off to rejoin the rest of the squad.

“Know what department you might want to join?” Genma inquired as the two of them made their way downstairs to pay for the room. Kakashi knew better than to expect Tsunade had paid. Especially since she’d basically helped them for free. The question made Kakashi grimace even as he put a sharingan-genjutsu over his arm and the pup once more. He held his finger over his lips to the little girl. She remained obediently silent.

“There’s really only one position the council wouldn’t complain overly much about. They’ll still complain, of course, but not as badly.” Kakashi sighed, obligingly giving the innkeeper a handful of gold, to the man’s gaping shock. The two men turned to leave as behind them the innkeeper recovered himself enough to call:

“Thank you, please come again!” They both ignored the man. Outside the rest of the team rejoined him.

“So, what position were you thinking?” Genma asked, tugging his Porcupine mask back out of his pouch and putting it on.

“Academy teacher’s the only one that would work. I could probably even bring Naruko with me to classes. Lots of single parents and Kunoichi do that while their kids are young.” Inu (back in his ANBU uniform and mask) grimaced, the title ‘academy teacher’ said with great detest. One of their other team members choked, and there were several sharp inhales at the topic.

“I guess they can’t complain too hard about you volunteering to become an academy teacher when they’ve been trying to get you to take on a genin team for a year or two.” Porcupine agreed. 

“Why, exactly, are you looking for a new position, Taichou?” One of their squad, Tanuki, asked. Of course Tanuki, also known as Raidō Namiashi, would ask the damning question.

“Didn’t you hear? Inu is a daddy now!” Porcupine declared. A surprised and thoughtful silence followed.

“Probably for the best that Inu take her. If anyone stands a chance of convincing Hokage-sama to let him take the girl in, it’s Inu.” Hawk stated. There were nods of agreement all around. In his arms the girl wriggled a little bit, curious but remained obediently silent.

“We’ll miss having you in ANBU, though, Taichou.” Another ANBU commented. More nods of agreement.

“I’ll need to contact any possible allies before officially returning to Konoha.” Kakashi commented as the entire group sped down the countryside. They were currently in the land of tea, so the there weren’t enough trees to leap through, and the trees weren’t really big enough for leaping through anyways. So over the ground the sped instead.

“What difference will a day or two make? It’s already been almost a week. So long as we don’t sign in, won’t be a problem.” Porcupine retorted.

“Speaking of problems, Taichou, we should probably come up with a good excuse for why we took so long to get back with her.” Hawk pointed out. 

“You’re right.” Kakashi sighed. He knew he’d forgotten something. That really wasn’t like him.

“I know where some ROOT are frequently. Could take a couple of dead ROOT back to Hokage-sama and blame it on unknown shinobi in black uniforms and no head plate.” Genma offered slowly. Kakashi nodded shortly.

“Take most of the squad with you. I’ll take Hawk with me, you take the rest. Too many of us inside the village will draw attention. Especially since we’ll have to be covert about this. Meet back here.” Kakashi ordered, drawing a kunai and scoring a triangle with a vertical line through it on the trunk of the tree next to him.

“Hai.” The rest of the squad replied. It had taken them about half a day to return to Konoha, now that they didn’t have to keep stopping to pick up food for their little girl. Most of the group headed around Konoha to the right, the long way to get to the mountain behind the village. As for Inu, he circled around Konoha’s walls to the left.

He kept circling around until he came to the newer, extended section. Behind this newer section lay the new compound for the Uchiha clan. He opened his left eye and used the sharingan to scan the wall. Sure enough, there was a secret back entrance into the Uchiha compound through the newer section of wall. Kakashi had his suspicions ever since the clan was forced to move to the outskirts of Konoha that they’d installed their own means of coming and going. He’d kept his mouth shut, though. The last thing the Uchiha needed was more suspicion pointed at them. He was grateful now that he’d done so. He could have entered Konoha by going over the wall, ANBU coming and going weren’t reported in any way, after all, but he would be _seen_.

And if he wanted to adopt Naruko officially, the last thing he needed was to be seen entering Uchiha territory. But he could still use their vote in the council. So silently he entered the secret doorway. He was semi-relieved to find two Uchiha guarding the other side of the doorway. The two men stiffened when ANBU Inu came through the doorway, but he quickly made peace with them.

“I’m here to meet with Uchiha-sama. It’s urgent.” He reported. Technically he didn’t have to state his purpose there, ANBU were allowed _anywhere_ in Konoha. But the Uchiha were all on high-alert thanks to tensions in the village and stupid civilians. The men recognized his efforts for what they were, and of course it’s not like the Uchiha didn’t know Inu. They knew who carried the only known sharingan outside their clan.

“Understood, ANBU. Please wait here while I alert Fugaku-sama.” The Uchiha on the right requested, and Inu nodded. The Uchiha blurred away in a shunshin, and then was back in minutes.

“Fugaku-sama is waiting for you in his office. You may shunshin in.” The returned Uchiha reported.

“Thank you, Uchiha-san.” Inu bowed slightly and then shunshin-ed away, his last sight beforehand being two gaping Uchiha men. ANBU bowed to no one but the Hokage, after all. Then again, he wouldn’t be ANBU much longer if everything went well.

* * *

Fugaku’s office was not what Inu would have expected. Uchiha Fugaku was known as a no-nonsense, no fuss, no frills sort of man. His office at the police station (which Inu had seen during the course of his duties as ANBU) was spartan, orderly, and hospital levels of clean. In direct contrast, his home office was a maze of towers of books, and paper all over his desk and on a couple small tables. Two walls were covered in floor-to-ceiling bookshelves with a ton of books and objects inside. One wall was made up of various pinned-up maps and documents, and the last wall contained a fireplace surrounded by more shelving.

One chair, directly across the desk from Fugaku, was absent of clutter. There was also a three-foot-wide gap between towering stacks of paper so that two people seated on opposite sides of the desk could see each other. Inu removed his mask slowly, so as not to alarm the older man. Fugaku regarded Kakashi steadily, so Kakashi took a deep breath and began.

“Your wife should probably be here for this conversation.” Kakashi remarked, silently settling himself in the chair and rearranging the currently-napping Naruko under the henge.

“For what reason?” Fugaku demanded, not yet standing.

“Because I rather imagine she’d do something terrible to both of us if we didn’t include her.” Kakashi replied dryly. Fugaku chuckled but obligingly flared his chakra in a specific pattern. Kakashi automatically memorized the pattern. A few minutes later Uchiha Mikoto cautiously poked her head into the room.

“Did you need something, dear?” Mikoto requested quietly.

“Kakashi has requested you join us. He is under the impression you will be very annoyed with us later if you are not a part of the conversation we are about to have.” Fugaku replied, one corner of his mouth twitching. The woman entered the room more fully and closed the door behind herself.

“If you have any security seals, please raise them now.” Kakashi requested. Both Uchiha’s eyebrows raised, but Fugaku did as requested. Kakashi could only guess the man’s security seals were on the other side of the desk or just underneath the top, because the man didn’t move but Kakashi clearly felt chakra barriers activate around the room.

“Now, what is so important?” Fugaku sighed.

“Don’t get upset, but I’m going to release a small genjutsu. So I can show you.” Kakashi sighed. Naturally, both Uchiha tensed up. Kakashi wanted to roll his eyes, but didn’t.

“Did you lose…?” Fugaku started to ask just as Kakashi dismissed his own genjutsu over the pup, cutting off Fugaku’s words and causing Mikoto to gasp.

“Naruko!” Mikoto whisper-gasped. Kakashi nodded tersely.

“It has not been reported to the public, but Naruko went missing almost a week ago. Myself and a team of other ANBU were dispatched to track her and her kidnappers down…” Kakashi proceeded to give his report to the two Uchiha, including the things he wouldn’t be telling the Hokage. “In short, I will need the Uchiha vote during the council meeting to adopt Naruko, should it come before the council.” Kakashi finished explaining.

“The Uchiha—” Fugaku started to reply, but a tiny yawn broke the silence. Naruko stirred and sat up before releasing one of the shakes and beginning to sip at it. Then she looked around, curious at where they were, and blinked at the two new people. She sniffed the air, then looked up at Kakashi.

“Who?” She asked, and Kakashi ruffled her hair with the hand not currently holding her in place.

“Our allies, hopefully. These are the heads of the Uchiha clan, pup. The man is Uchiha Fugaku-sama, the woman is Uchiha Mikoto-sama.” Kakashi explained. “Mikoto-sama is your godmother, although she has not been allowed to see you before today.” He added. The girl tilted her head thoughtfully.

“Godmother?” She asked.

“Someone your parents wanted to help look after you. She would have been part of your pack, if your birth parents hadn’t died.” Kakashi explained, and from the corner of his eyes he could see Mikoto tearing up a little.

“Mikoto-kaa?” she asked, and Fugaku was handing his wife some tissues as the woman in question started to sniffle.

“You can call me that if you want, sweetie.” Mikoto agreed. His pup didn’t acknowledge the woman’s words though, instead looking up at Kakashi. He…hesitated. On the one hand, he didn’t mind. On the other…if she called Mikoto that in other people’s hearing…there would be questions.

Well, he could always insure his pup called several people ‘mom’ to disguise it. Perhaps all of the woman married to (or who were themselves) clan heads? He nodded to the his pup.

“As I was saying, the Uchiha will vote in favor of your adoption of young Naruko. May I suggest you also give her your name? It’s true that you have your own fair share of enemies, but it would also further protect her against people after the Uzumaki or her father’s heir.” Fugaku interrupted.

“She already knows her parents names, Tsunade told her.” Kakashi admitted, not touching the other matter. The Uchiha didn’t push. “Thank you for your time, Uchiha-samas. I need to visit others before I officially return.” Kakashi sighed, donning his mask once more.

“Who else have you seen already?” Mikoto wondered. Inu paused and looked back over his shoulder at her.

“No one. I came to the Uchiha first.” Inu informed the couple, stunning them, before he vanished in a shunshin once more. Once outside the village walls once more, Inu next went to the Inuzuka. This time he had to climb up and over the village wall in a series of jumps to get inside, because if the Inuzuka had an outside entrance he didn’t know about it. A pack of nin-dogs, apparently ones without partners, were on him as soon as he touched down on the inside.

“Apologies. I’m here to see Inuzuka-sama.” Inu reported, because ANBU or not it didn’t pay to ignore territorial dogs. One of the group departed and came back with Inuzuka Tsume. Inu bowed slightly.

“Tsume-sama.” He drawled.

“Hound, and a guest, you rascal. What brings you to our back door?” Tsume barked out in a laugh.

“Not really something we should talk about out in the open.” Inu murmured. Tsume frowned.

“You can trust my clan.” She stated firmly.

“I know, but they should have plausible deniability.” Inu replied just as firmly. Tsume frowned but led Inu to a nearby small building. The building turned out to be little more than a one-floor and one-roomed little shed. Once the door was closed, Tsume activated a seal on the wall. The protections crawled over the walls, roof, and floor.

“If I don’t activate those seals, every Inuzuka in a ten-meter radius will be able to hear us. And that’s just the ones who aren’t _trying_.” She informed him dryly. Kakashi snickered a little as he removed his mask.

“I am familiar with heightened senses.” He reminded her. While people typically associated the Hatake and Inuzuka with a heightened sense of smell and stronger instincts, both clans member’s actually had all their senses heightened. It made having discreet conversations harder than in other families, as Tsume had noted.

“So what brings you here, pup, and who’s your companion?” Kakashi allowed his genjutsu to fall.

“This is my pup, Naruko. Naruko, this is our ally Inuzuka Tsume-sama.” Kakashi introduced.

“Your pup, huh?” Tsume said dryly, one eyebrow raised. Meeting her eyes squarely, he replied firmly:

“Yes. _My_ pup.” Tsume snorted and clapped Kakashi hard on the back.

“Good for you, Hatake. Guess I can’t call you ‘pup’ anymore, now that you’ve got one of your own. Should probably bleach out her hair to match your own. When she’s lived with you longer she’ll smell more like yours, too.” Tsume congratulated. Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Hadn’t gotten that far yet.” He admitted.

“So, besides introducing me to the newest Hatake, what can I do for you?”

“I want your vote in the council, if the Hokage makes me bring the issue before them.”

“The Inuzuka and Hatake have been allies for a very long time, Kakashi. Of course you have our vote. About time someone took in the kid.” Tsume stated baldly.

“There’s more. If I…after I adopt her. I plan to take an in-village assignment, but if something should happen to me anyways, I want you to take her in. I know the council denied you last time, but I also know she won’t survive next time without someone looking after her. You should know what happened.” Kakashi sighed. He then proceeded to explain how Naruko came to be in his care. At the end, Tsume whistled softly.

“Quite a journey you’ve had, eh pup?” Tsume asked Naruko, who regarded the woman with silent, serious eyes. Then his pup turned to him questioningly. This time Kakashi knew what she wanted before she even asked.

“You can call her Tsume-kaa. If she’s alright with it.” He instructed, and Tsume laughed.

“I don’t mind, pup. I’m the Alpha of my pack, so just about everyone calls me Alpha, mom, or auntie.” Tsume added to the little girl. “More importantly, Hatake, where are you going to live? That little apartment of yours isn’t big enough for both of you for more than a night or two.”

Great. Another thing Kakashi hadn’t thought about yet. It wasn’t like he didn’t have a place but…he hadn’t been back there since he was five years old. Still, it was probably a question the Hokage would ask as soon as Kakashi told the man he wanted to adopt the pup.

“I’ll have to move back to the Hatake compound. Is there anything else I should prepare for? I know there’s a lot I probably don’t know about caring for a child. Thankfully bathroom training is already going well…” Kakashi asked tiredly. Tsume gave him a fanged grin and explained all about raising kids and some of the typical things he’d need to watch out for. By the time they’d left her company, Inu had a very long list of things he’d need.

Thankfully Tsume agreed to talk to the head of the Hyūga and Aburame clans, who were both personal allies of hers (having been on the same Genin team). Tsume had also agreed to send a couple jōnin and a bunch of Genin from her clan to clean out the Hatake compound for Inu. In return Inu slipped her a one-use key seal with his blood on it that would allow the people she sent into the Hatake compound. That left the Ino-Shika-Cho allied clans to Inu, along with the other necessary preparations.

Fortunately for Inu, it was a Wednesday. Wednesdays meant the Heads of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans were gathered at one of their compounds. The men would gamble and ‘exchange news’ while the woman would gather in another room and gossip. It only took Inu two tries to get the right compound, and Inu was ushered into the den where the three men were gathered around a low table playing poker. Several eyebrows went up as the Akimichi gate-guard brought Inu into their room. Once the man had departed, Inu requested silencing seals be raised. Chōza reached under the table and triggered his seals. Once that was done, Kakashi removed his mask (and the henge once more over Naruko), and explained his request.

“What happened to make you desire guardianship?” Nara Shikaku drawled. Kakashi hesitated for a fraction of a second, but knew he wouldn’t get their support without revealing most of the truth.

“Naruko went missing about a week ago, presumed kidnapped, and her so-called caretaker dead. When we recovered her, we found out that the caretaker in question had been abusing little Naruko. She was being actively starved, left in her own mess, and was never held or touched at all. If it hadn’t been for what happened, Naruko would probably be dead today. The rest is classified.” Kakashi admitted, knowing that the Nara, at least, was smart enough to put most of the puzzle together anyways. Though Shikaku might not have guessed about taking off to visit Tsunade.

“Of course you have the Akimichi vote.” Chōza agreed firmly, looking highly displeased.

“And the Yamanaka vote.” Inoichi promised, Nara just nodding along to show the Naras were in agreement.

Then all three men quizzed Kakashi on his preparations for his new pup. They came up with a couple things he’d yet to think of and that Tsume hadn’t suggested. Such as ‘play dates’ with all of the other clan’s children.

“That way no clan can claim to not be associated with her. It’s not much, but it may help with any claims of being unfair for the Hatake clan to adopt her when all other clans were denied.” Chōza explained in lieu of Shikaku, who’d originally suggested the idea. They went over where the two Hatake would live, and Kakashi told them Tsume was taking care of cleaning up the compound for the duo. The Akimichi vowed to see that the Hatake clan head home was fortified with provisions, no matter how Kakashi protested that he was fully capable of going shopping. Inoichi, for his part, said he’d have a few people drop by to make sure there was a decent garden and a few fruit trees so Kakashi wouldn’t have to pay for fruit and veg all the time. The Nara didn’t say anything, but Kakashi was relatively sure that was only because he didn’t want to waste time arguing with Kakashi like the other two. The Nara would do as the Nara would do, or wouldn’t. As the saying went. Kakashi bowed to them all.

“I thank you for your votes and suggestions. I will, of course, do my best for Naruko.” Kakashi murmured. Shortly afterwards he was tracing his way back through the woods to the meeting spot. The rest of the squad was waiting silently for him, three body-scrolls in hand. Kakashi nodded to them in greeting. The group climbed up over the wall and shunshin-ed to the Hokage’s office.

In the waiting room he noted all of the clan heads, minus the Ino-Shika-Cho that he’d just been speaking with, loitering around for one reason or another. They all just conveniently ‘happened’ to be there. Kakashi wanted to roll his eyes, for nin they were hardly being subtle, but refrained.

“Ah, Inu and team. Welcome back.” The Hokage greeted dryly as Hawk shut the door behind them. Obviously Sarutobi “the Professor” Hiruzen knew Inu (and/or his team) had visited several clans before reporting in. Well, as noted the others were hardly being subtle.

“Hokage-sama.” Inu replied, bowing carefully while cradling the child with both arms. Then rest of his temporary squad copied him. Sarutobi gestured for them to rise.

“Who took Naruko?” The hokage asked, getting right to the point. As leader of the squad, Inu answered.

“We found her with three shinobi, in unmarked black uniforms and no forehead protectors.” Inu reported succinctly. The Hokage’s gaze gained a tinge of well-hidden anger.

“I see. And this is why you found it necessary to assemble all the ‘Big Clans’ in my office?” Sarutobi sighed.

“Partially, Hokage-sama. Also to let you know the support I have when I tell you that I am retiring from ANBU and will be adopting Naruko. During the course of our investigation, we found that her previous caretaker was abusing the pup. She was actively being starved, it looks like she hadn’t been cleaned a day in her life, and the child is touch-starved as well. Besides which, you’ll need a strong ninja to protect Naruko from any more possible abductions.” Kakashi replied tersely as he removed his mask and laid it down on the Hokage’s desk.

“I…see. And what do you plan to do to support young Naruko, now that you’ve retired?” Sarutobi asked, laying his forearms down over his desk and loosely clasping his hands together.

“As the council has been asking me to think about mentoring the next generation, I was thinking about becoming an academy teacher.” Kakashi replied, doing his best to mask any possible distaste in his voice. Once more the Hokage saw through him, because the man chuckled.

“I daresay teaching at the academy will give you the skills needed to teach young Naruko when she gets a bit older.” Sarutobi commented lightly. Kakashi very carefully _did not_ mention that Naruko was probably smart enough to pass the academy in a year or two. The last thing he wanted was for Naruko to have a life like his. Let her be a child for seven and a half more years, and then the four years at the academy.

“Where will you live? Your apartment is hardly suitable for raising a child.” Hiruzen continued. It was like the man was going down the list the clan heads had assembled for him.

“We will live in the Hatake compound. Now that there’s more than one Hatake, it’s only right. I will also be changing her name to Hatake and bleaching out her hair to be white like mine. No one will be told she used to be Uzumaki Naruko, and we’ll cover up her Kyūbi markings.” Kakashi outlined. One of Sarutobi’s eyebrows rose at the last part, at one of his ninja’s basically giving the Hokage an order. But the old man took it with good grace.

“That sounds like an excellent plan. Especially considering the… _circumstances_ of young Naruko’s kidnapping. Will you be changing her first name as well? If young Naruko vanishes and then reappears with different hair and a different name, people will still put the pieces together.” Hiruzen pointed out.

Kakashi winced, knowing the old man was right. But it was one of the only things he’d left her from her parents. Even while he regretted the very idea of changing her first name, Kakashi’s mind spun. There wasn’t really another name picked out for Naruko. In fact the only name her parents actually picked out was Naruto. That name was picked out for a character in one of Jiraiya’s books, and also meaning whirlpool to represent the lost Uzushio. The Hokage has simply changed the ending to make it more feminine.

If he was changing her name to match the Hatake family, it would need to be a farming-themed name. Kakashi only really remembered his father’s name, besides his own. Sakumo’s name meant agricultural crops or produce. Kakashi’s own name meant scarecrow. He knew his parents thought about naming him ‘Mio’, which meant ‘fruit’ if he’d been born a girl…but he wanted something more for Naruko. Something that would tie to her birth family even if no one else realized it.

“You know…names are important. I thought about naming one of my sons Konohamaru, meaning little Konoha. Of course, that baby was still born, but the idea still remains a good one. Lots of people add maru to boys names…” The Hokage murmured, as though sensing Kakashi’s dilemma.

“And -Ko to girl names…especially when talking to little children…” Kakashi murmured to himself. A thought popped into his mind, and Kakashi couldn’t make it go away. He spent a few more moments thinking, but the idea kept insistently pestering him. Eventually he gave up looking further. He’d found her name.

“Kashiko. People will think it’s an uncreative homage to my own name, and we’ll use the kanji to make it mean ‘little scarecrow’, but in truth it will be in homage to her mother Kushina. For her middle name we’ll use Mio, which also ties into the Hatake naming scheme, meaning fruit or thread. The fruit ties into father’s name, since he was named after produce, and thread might come off a scarecrow just like a child comes from a parent. Plus she’ll have options if she hates her first name…” Kakashi decided.

“Hatake, you put way too much thought into that.” Hawk commented blandly from behind Kakashi. Without looking, Kakashi kicked behind him. The other ANBU allowed the kick to hit, and rolled his eyes at Kakashi’s back.

“Names are _important_ , especially in Clans.” Kakashi retorted firmly. Sarutobi nodded his own agreement, which shut down any arguments which may have followed. The Hokage discussed a few more details with Kakashi, and managed to get Kakashi to agree to a squad of ANBU guards for little Naruko at least until she graduated the academy.

At length Kakashi and the newly re-named Kashiko (now with new legal documentation!) were allowed to leave the office. Kakashi nodded to the other clan heads calmly, both Kakashi’s arm and Kashiko under genjutsu once more. The other Clan heads stuck around to finish up whatever cover they’d used to be present in the Hokage’s office while Kakashi himself went to the store.

* * *

When he finally returned home to his apartment, he had boxes of hair-bleach, dye, and toner in hand. A quick summoning of Pakkun to fetch clothes from the old Hatake estate that would fit Kashiko, and he turned his attention back to his new daughter. While he bleached out little Kashiko’s hair, he quietly explained to her why she needed all new names. He wasn’t sure why she didn’t protest more. Maybe because she hadn’t really gotten used to the name Naruko yet? In any case, they finished up with her hair and a quick bath.

Kakashi dressed in his regular Jōnin clothes, and he dressed the pup in the clothes Pakkun had brought. Instead of looking through the old things for little girl clothes as Kakashi had intended, Pakkun had brought some of Kakashi’s old things.

So he ended up dressing her in his old black jumpsuit, with the ankles taped down for mobility. The sleeves on this particular suit were already short, so he didn’t worry about those. Underneath the jumpsuit she wore one of his old black stretchy armor undershirts, which came up into a mask. She looked rather adorable, like a mini female version of himself, really. Her long white hair, which now came down to her bottom, he left free with a simple brushing. They didn’t have any tiny ninja sandals left over from when he was her size. Ninja shoes got worn out or traded around until they were worn out. So she went shoeless for now.

After a quick dinner (and a shake for her), the duo set off to the market place. Before anything else, his little pup would need some sort of sandal or shoe. And probably some newer clothes of her own. She’d probably want some girly things of her own, right? Or well, she would once she was a bit older. And while bathroom-training was going well, he should probably still get her diapers or something just in case she had an accident. And he’d need child-safe medicine…there was a pretty long list, now that he was thinking about it.

He scooped up his pup, and threw everything in the apartment into storage scrolls for easy transport. He could always unpack the bed if the old home wasn’t habitable enough for them. There were sure to be several things that needed further fixing, one couldn’t expect Genin to have the skills to fix everything. He paused just before exiting the front door, debating on whether to use another genjutsu or not. He didn’t want his daughter’s first time in public to be connected to Naruko’s disappearance, but at the same time there wasn’t really a good time for her to suddenly appear.

On the other hand, everyone that knew anything about the Hatake clan knew of their tradition of keeping their children to Hatake land until at least two or three years old. Kakashi’s father had kept Kakashi within the boundaries of the Hatake Clan grounds until he was five and started attending the academy. Kakashi wasn’t even allowed to have outside babysitters until he himself was two. Between two (when his mother died) and three years of age he had babysitters whenever his father was on a mission, but they were all Inuzuka. No outsiders that weren’t close allies permitted withing the estate.

In the end, they left without a genjutsu. Kakashi figured his little girl looked enough like him in her little mask and jumpsuit with jacket than her actual parents. The white hair helped, too. He quickly found out why Hatake parents kept their children within the estate, though. Having strangers around his new child made all his instincts go into hyper-protective overdrive. True, she was already almost two, but he hadn’t been with her for the first year and a half of her life.

Noting his anxiety once more, Kashiko rubbed the top of her head against the underside of his chin. He squeezed her tighter in a short hug and they continued on their trek. Shopping was a truly nerve wracking experience. Even the ANBU guard which followed them for Kashiko’s safety made Kakashi grind his teeth in protective frustration. Their first stop was the shoe store. Kakashi had no idea how to figure out what size of shoe she needed, beyond far too small or far too big.

Thankfully a clerk noted Kakashi’s confusion, not easy to spot on a guy only showing a sixth of his face, and promptly came over to them.

“Need some help?” The man asked. Kakashi nodded once shortly. The clerk took out a board with different foot sizes and sliding rulers and measured up Kashiko’s foot. Kakashi had to stop himself from hurling the man far away from them, despite knowing the man was only doing his job.

“Are you looking for shinobi sandals or regular children’s shoes?” The clerk asked once the measuring was done.

“Sandals.” Kakashi grit out. The clerk, bless him, didn’t react badly to Kakashi’s tense and rude demeanor. The clerk led Kakashi over to the side with the boy’s shoes, and Kakashi paused.

“These are the boy’s shoes.” He stated flatly. The clerk paused.

“Err…yes?” The clerk replied, obviously not seeing the problem. For a moment Kakashi tried to think of a polite way to say ‘I have a daughter, not a son. Are you blind?’. Not finding the right words, he shrugged mentally. Rude it was. Or rather, would have been. Because little Kashiko spoke up before Kakashi could.

“I’m a girl.” She informed the man blandly. Both Hatake watched silently as the clerk apologized and bowed several times. Eventually he stopped and led them over to the girl’s shoes.

Not that it made a ton of difference in small children’s sandals, but Kakashi was beginning to suspect his little pup might need pointedly ‘girl colored’ clothes to help people know what gender she was. Especially since he’d decided having her wear a mask was a good way to help keep people from figuring out she was born Uzumaki Naruko. He might even have to go so far as putting her in…(shudder)… a dress. Not that there was anything wrong with dresses, necessarily.

Except that they were harder to fight in and wouldn’t cover her underwear if she had to do a high kick…and offered less protection. On the other hand, it did provide more hiding places that were less obvious. Unlike pockets. Perhaps a qipao with pants underneath? He seemed to remember a lot of academy girls wearing that combination. If he got it in some sort of pink color, and maybe a hair ribbon or bow to match? Then it would be more obvious….if he was going to get her pink clothes, he should probably choose little kunoichi sandals to match. The thought did not fill him with glee. Anything for his little pup, though.

That last thought gave him pause, he even physically paused. Holding one pair of tiny pastel pink shinobi sandals in one hand and his Kashiko in the other. He knew he was getting attached, but this seemed awfully fast. Then again, she was basically born into his pack, being the daughter of Minato-sensei and Kushina. He’d spent most of her lifetime battling his instincts in order to stay away from her. Now that he was given the opportunity to spend time with her, and had accepted her as his own child…perhaps that was it. Probably. It wasn’t that Kakashi had gone soft for her or anything. Just a regular pack and Alpha thing. Definitely. While he looked off into space, and coincidentally in the direction of the pink sandals, his pup took things into her own hands once more.

“Daddy.” His pup whispered, tugging on his vest to get his attention. Immediately his gaze and attention snapped to her.

“Yes, pup?” He inquired.

“Daddy, no.” She informed him, pointing at the sandals as she said ‘no’. Well, that solved that problem.

“Which color do you like?” He asked her. She tugged on his vest again.

“Down.” She ordered.

“Kashiko, pup….” Kakashi sighed. But his little girl crossed her arms and glared at him.

“Down.” She insisted again. Reluctantly he placed her on the floor. His prodigious little pup went through all the sandals in the area the clerk had showed them were her size. Meanwhile Kakashi glared at the nearby hovering clerk and said clerk sweated heavily. Kakashi wrinkled his nose slightly, grateful once more for his mask that filtered out most overbearing smells.

As she searched through the sandals, Kashiko examined all of them by sight, touch, and smell. Eventually she presented him with two pairs of sandals. One of them was in bright fuschia-esque purple, the other was a bold hot pink. Patiently Kakashi talked her through how to put the shoes on, to make sure they had the right size. Once assured they had everything in the correct size, Kakashi scooped up his pup and took the two pairs to the counter to buy.

“Which pair do you want to wear today?” He asked. Naturally his pup proclaimed ‘both’. Because he did not care much about fashion, or care for either color itself, Kakashi let her do what she wanted. Kashiko ended up wearing one hot pink shinobi sandal and one fuchsia-esque sandal. The next stop was a shinobi children’s and baby’s clothing store. When he tried to get her to put on the qipao, however, his little girl refused.

“Doesn’t smell like you!” She complained. Kakashi scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

“Mah, your clothes should smell like you, pup. They don’t smell like either of us because no one’s worn them yet.” He explained.

“No!” She cried.

“What if I put them under my pillow after we buy them so they smell like me before you wear them?” Kakashi suggested. Then he had to wait while she thought about it. While she thought about it, her lip pouted out. The action was clearly visible even through the mask. She also began to tear up. Kakashi _may_ have panicked a little and suggested she think about it for a while. But no one could prove the panicked part.

He quickly put the dress and other clothes back (except the diapers he found, which were labelled by age-range and he was _not_ going to budge on). He did, however, buy a bunch of girly hair things for his pup. Despite not being sure how some of them were used.

He got the barrettes, the ribbons, and even the elastics, okay? But the weird plastic sea-urchin shaped expanding thing with spikes inside like some sort of weird inverted sea urchin shell. And how the kanzashi hair stick would hold up an entire bun mystified him despite knowing what it was supposed to be used for. What purpose did the stickers serve? There was even a clip with several green strands of …maybe leather? It smelled like leather, anyways. A tiny clip with several strands of leather with flowers dotted along the lengths of the strands.

He got the clips with different colors of fake hair draping under them, even if he thought they were weird. Naturally they bought the ones in Hot pink and bright purple. The glitter stick was…fairly self-explanatory, but his pup took one look at the sparkles and wanted it. Since Kakashi would no longer be taking missions outside the village, and therefore would not be compromised if someone noticed glitter on him, he allowed her to get that. He put his foot down when she wanted the headband with cat-shaped ears, though. Ugh. Cats.

He set her on the counter just long enough after making their purchase to tie two hair ribbons together (the pink and purple ones). Then he tied the ribbon around her hair like a headband, helping to hold her bangs back. He finished the band off with a big pink and purple ribbon at the top, and tucking in the ends underneath the ‘band’ part.

As they were exiting the shop, Kakashi saw Gai at the other end of the street. Immediately he decided they were done shopping for now. He could introduce his pup to Gai another day. One where he didn’t feel so hyper-protective and hyper-alert, maybe. For now he ducked into a nearby alley and then made his way to the Hatake estate.

* * *

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seriously spent WAY TOO MUCH TIME trying to decide on what name Naruko should get. Partially because I didn't want to give her another name at all. But then common sense told me: no one is going to be fooled by changing her hair color and nothing else. So, like Kakashi, I was forced to come up with something else. When I finally chose her new names, I spent a further twenty minutes debating which would be her middle and which would be her given name. I seriously debated just flipping a coin. 
> 
> Also, the hair things...I seriously look at Hatake 'I probably never brush my insane vertical or semi-vertical mop' Kakashi and thought...yeah. He's going to be out of his depths with little girl's hair things. So, just buy them all (or almost all). He'll figure it out later, right ;). 
> 
> Seriously, this was supposed to be a short wrap-up to the chapter story, and it JUST KEPT GOING! This chapter is eighteen pages long friends. And I may be adding another because I just...have IDEAS for this story. Not that it's going much further, but I didn't even get to the part I wanted to. So, probably one more chapter.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> ~ Wingzrooke

**Author's Note:**

> So, this idea popped into my head as I was falling asleep one night and wouldn't go away. There will be at least one more chapter before I'm done with this one.
> 
> I wasn't sure if I needed to use an archive warning for graphic violence for this story. What do you guys think? Personally, I didn't think it was terribly graphic that way, but I'm not positive. For now I haven't marked it, but I will if it bothers people.
> 
> I hope ya'll like this new story.
> 
> Until next time:
> 
> ~ Wingzrooke


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